The present invention is related to a controlling mechanism of beverage infusion container. By the controlling mechanism, a user can from outer side of the container control the communication between two divisions of the interior of the container.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional tea infusion cup. The tea infusion cup is equipped with two covers 77a, 77b. A partitioning board 71 is disposed in the tea infusion cup to divide the interior of the cup into a first division 78 and a second division 79. The partitioning board 71 is formed with a central draining hole 711.
A mesh rack 72 is disposed above the partitioning board 71. A filtering mesh is paved over the mesh rack 72. The center of the mesh rack 72 has an upward extending tube 73 in which a pull rod 74 is fitted. The top end of the pull rod 74 extends out of the tube 73 and is formed with a holding section 741. The bottom end of the pull rod 74 downward extends out of the tube 73 and is fitted with a spring 75. A valve body 76 is connected with the bottom end of the pull rod 74. In normal state, the valve body 76 is pushed downward by the spring 75 to block the draining hole 711.
In use, a user can place the tea into the first division 78 and infuse the tea with hot water. The cover 77a is then closed to keep the water in the first division 78 having a necessary temperature. After a period of time of infusion, the user needs to turn open the cover 77a and pinch the holding section 741 to pull up the pull rod 74. At this time, a locating plate 742 of the pull rod 74 is separated from a locating slot 731 of top end of the tube 73. Then the pull rod 74 can be turned to locate the locating plate 742 in a locating notch 732. At this time, the valve body 76 is moved upward to unblock the draining hole 711. Under such circumstance, the tea in the first division 78 is permitted to flow through the draining hole 711 into the second division 79. Then, the user can turn the pull rod 74 to make the valve body 76 again block the draining hole 711. Thereafter, the cover 77a is closed and the cup 7 is turned upside down. Then, the other cover 77b is opened for drinking the made tea.
When the tea is soaked in the hot water with the cover 77a closed, the tea will expand and stretch. Under such circumstance, the holding section 741 of the pull rod 74 will be surrounded by the hot tea. When the user turns open the cover 77a to pinch the holding section 741 for pulling up the pull rod 74, the user""s fingers are easy to be burnt by the hot tea or hot tea water. Moreover, when pinching the holding section 741 with fingers, the fingers often touch the tea water. This is unsanitary. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the above structure in which the pull rod 74 is used to control blocking/unblocking of the valve body 76.
FIG. 7 shows a coffee infusion container. The bottom of the main body 81 of the container is formed with a draining hole 82. The blocking/unblocking of the draining hole 82 is controlled by a controlling mechanism. The controlling mechanism includes a press rod 83, a link 84 and a steel ball 85 fixed at a rear end of the link 84. In normal state, the steel ball 85 will drop down due to gravity to block the draining hole 82. When the press rod 83 is pressed down, the steel ball 85 is driven and lifted by the link 84 to unblock the draining hole 82.
A switch member 88 is disposed at a pivoted section of the cover 87 pivotally connected with a handle 86 of the container. A leaf spring 89 abuts against and controls the switch member 88. The cover 87 is formed with a through hole 871 corresponding to a rear end of the switch member 88. The rear end of the switch member 88 passes through the through hole 871 and is adapted to contact with the top end of the press rod 83. When the switch member 88 is pressed downward and locked by the leaf spring 89 as shown in FIG. 8, the rear end of the switch member 88 will press down the press rod 83 to unblock the draining hole 82.
The above controlling mechanism can be applied to the double-opening tea infusion cup of FIG. 5 to avoid burn of a user. However, when turning the cup upside down for drinking the tea, the steel ball will drop down due to gravity to again unblock the draining hole. Under such circumstance, the tea water will flow back to the first division or even leak out through the gap between the cover 77a and the container.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a controlling mechanism of beverage infusion container. The controlling mechanism includes a controlling member passed through the circumferential wall of the container. One end of the controlling member extends out of the circumferential wall and is provided with a controlling section. The other end of the controlling member is linked with a valve body positioned at the draining hole of the partitioning board. The valve body is controllable by the controlling section on outer side of the container to block or unblock the draining hole.